Generally, for the coarse treatment and for finishing or polishing the surfaces of ceramic or composite fillings, dental tools, hereinafter called rubber polishers or polishers for the sake of simplicity, are used which comprise a rubber-elastic mass in which abrasive grains are embedded. According to the fineness of the grain, these tools are used for the coarse treatment or for finishing or polishing operations. The size of grain ranges from approx. 320 .mu. down to 5 .mu..
Usually, the application of rubber polishers is recommended between the coarse treatment and the final high polishing. In the case of metal, high gloss may even be obtained with rubber polishers alone. The rubber polishers have different typical shapes which are determined by the anatomic structure and the specific morphology of the polished teeth and replacements such as fillings. These typical shapes in turn are subject to wear according to typical abrasion patterns. If the abrasion exceeds a certain degree, the polisher becomes useless and has to be replaced by a new one. Depending on the typical shape, the worn portions represent a greater or smaller part of the entire polisher.
The abrasive properties of the polishers are achieved by embedding abrasive grains in the rubber-elastic mass. In all tools of the prior art, the entire polishing mass is filled with abrasive grains regardless of the portions of the polisher which are typically used or not. Particularly if diamond grains are used, this leads to relatively expensive tools.